Woman Sues Comedian Horatio Sanz for Sexual Abuse in 2001 When She Was 16– He Allegedly Put It All Down in Texts – 19 Years Later — ‘You Can “#MeToo” Me’

Horatio Sanz is accused of having improper relations with a 16 year old girl in 2002.

Comedian Horatio Sanz, 52, is facing the ruination of his life.  He may only have himself to blame.

An anonymous female accuser, now in her 30s, and who has an admitted history of drug abuse,  which she blames in part on Sanz alleges the comedian sexually abused her when she was 16.

The woman is bringing the lawsuit in New York State under the Child Victim’s Act which, among other things, was amended to eliminate the civil statute of limitations for two years on alleged sexual abuse for individuals under age 18, regardless of when it happened.

[Read the complaint]

The age of consent is and was 17 when the alleged abuse occurred to the 16 year old girl in 2002. She is not claiming that Sanz and her had actual sex but that he engaged in cyber sex and touched her inappropriately at several parties.

The deadline to file claims under the amended CVA is today, August 14, 2021. The lawsuit was filed on August 12 in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, against Sanz, NBC and Saturday Night Live [SNL}.  She alleges to have met Sanz in 2000 when she was 15, and he was 31 at NBC studios.

The woman lives in Pennsylvania and is referred to as Jane Doe.

Sanz was a cast member of SNL from 1998 to 2006. When  she was a teen she operated a “SNL” fan website and a Jimmy Fallon fan website, which brought her to the attention of people associated with SNL.

The lawsuit alleges:

  1. In 2000, as a known online operator of a fan site for SNL, the girl was invited to attend a taping of the SNL show. She was 15. Sanz met her there and kissed her on the cheek and touched her waist.
  2. When she was 16, she was invited to an SNL after-show party, in May 2001.  She drank alcohol and danced.  Sanz also drank alcohol at the party. He was almost 32.
  3. One week later, she was invited to attend another SNL after-show party and was shown around NBC studios.
  4. On this day Sanz was seated on a couch telling stories to about 8 people, including employees of NBC. Upon seeing the teenager he told her to sit on his lap, with her legs between his legs and his arms around her waist, hips and buttocks. Sanz continued telling stories with he on his lap.
  5. Sometime after this, he invited people, including the 16 year old girl, to the rooftop of NBC to watch the sunrise. On the rooftop Sanz stood near her and stared at her.
  6. Some days later in 2001, Sanz and the girl began communicating by AOL Instant Messenger. Sanz gave her news items about the show which she posted on her fan website. This is alleged as part of the grooming process.
  7. The 16 year old and Sanz began to regularly text via instant messenger.
  8. They discussed the tragedy of 9-11 2001. The girl said he was in class when it happened. Sanz assured her life would return to normal. This is alleged as part of the grooming process.
  9. At one point, “Sanz exchanged messages with [the teen] and steered conversations to discuss sex, sexual experiences, sexual activities, sexual fantasies, masturbation.”
  10. He asked her to send revealing photos of herself.
  11. He asked her “to perform sexual acts, including masturbation, which he asked her to describe to him.”
  12. Sanz referred to the teenager as “slut” and “bitch.”
  13. He gave her instructions on how to masturbate.
  14. In 2001, the teenager attended another SNL party and drank alcohol.
  15. Sanz and Jimmy Fallon sat with her. Sanz gave her a rose.
  16. In Nov. 2001, she attended another SNL party, sat with Jimmy Fallon and had a Budweiser beer. She told Fallon she was a junior in high school.
  17. On the evening of May 11 and continuing into the morning of May 12, 2002, she was given a limo ride, paid for by NBC, to attend two SNL parties, one of which was at a cast member’s loft. At this party, Sanz put his arm around the 17 year old while they talked with other guests.
  18. At the party and later alone afterward on that evening and morning, Sanz kissed, touched her breasts, buttocks and attempted to put his finger in her vagina but was prevented because the teen was wearing pantyhose.
  19. NBC employees [unnamed] were present expressed surprise and dismay.
  20. While in high school, the girl became depressed and began to use drugs.
  21. The texting relationship with Sanz continued for years, into her 20s. and while the woman attended college.
  22. She continued to use drugs. It is alleged that the shame she felt because of the texts, photos and behavior of Sanz caused her to become a drug addict.
  23. In 2005, [she was approx. age 20] she was hospitalized for drug use.
  24. She contacted Sanz who “reacted with annoyance” and steered the conversation towards sex.
  25. After her hospitalization, the two continued to text and have “cybersex.”
  26. It is not stated in the complaint when the two stopped communicating.
  27. In the summer of 2019, the now approximately 34 year old woman saw Sanz at a comedy event.
  28. Several months later, on Nov. 27, 2019, Sanz admitted in a series of confessional and apologetic texts to her that:
    1. He was “very sorry”
    2. That she could “#metoo him” because “it happened.”
    3. He would swear “on a stack of improv books… I’m a different person.”
    4. “After the Tracy [Morgan] party I really tried to fix what I had done.”  [Ed note; Tracy Morgan was a cast member of SNL.]
    5. “I was very immature and had limited sexual awareness.”
    6. He admitted he masturbated when they texted and that was “dumb shit.
    7. However, he said, “I wasn’t jerking off 24/7”
    8. “I don’t lead my life that way now. I was bragging to you because I was fucked up.”
    9. “I was a creep but a wounded creep. And I’ve tried to make amends since quitting drinking.”
    10. “I wasn’t really thinking. But I really didn’t do that with others. It was a fucking big mistake. I’m very sorry. If you want to metoo me you have every right. Believe me I’m not like that anymore.”
    11. “I don’t love the old me anymore than you probably don’t.”
    12. “I really cared about you. Just was so low. … It was a new thing. And it was wrong.”
    13. “I was a lonely wreck and I thought I was giving you some fun at those parties.”
    14. “Making out with a 16 year old is far from kiddie fucker. Not appropriate but Jesus, Kiddie Fucker?”
    15.  They talked “pretty much” every single day.
    16.  “I fucked up but I fucked up lots in my life so it really hurts that I did this to you.”
    17. “I spent all my 20s trying to be funny so I wasn’t normal with girls.”
    18. “I let us get closer and closer. I was a weak man. I was wrong.”
    19. “I wanted to impress you.”
    20. “I got out of hand with something new to me.”
    21. “You happened to be 16.”
    22. “You made me decoupage. I cared.”

[Ed. note: Decoupage is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and sealing each layer with varnishes until the “stuck on” appearance disappears and the result looks like painting or inlay work then sanded to a polished finish.]

The woman is represented by Jeffrey Fritz of the law firm of Soloff and Zervanos.

Andrew Brettler, an attorney for Sanz, said in a statement that the allegations are “categorically false.”

“However often she repeats her ludicrous allegations or tries to rope in other high-profile names to generate media attention, they will always be false,” Brettler said. “Before filing this lawsuit anonymously, she demanded $7.5 million in exchange for her silence. We, of course, refused and will vigorously contest these totally meritless claims.”

A civil lawsuit in New York is decided on the preponderance of evidence, which means that a jury [or a judge in a bench trial] decides that it is more likely than not that the defendant caused the injury.

As far as evidence is concerned, if it is proven that Sanz sent a spate of confessional messages in 2019, in effect admitting to having a relationship with a 16 year old, it does not seem likely a jury will fail to find for the plaintiff.

The amount of damages are unspecified in the lawsuit.

In the texts [if they are authentic] Sanz’s seems to say that, at age 32, he was as immature or more immature than the teen girl and that she should take pity on him because he suffered much loneliness as he strove for stardom.

His weight and alcohol may have also been an issue. After leaving SNL in 2006, Sanz said he lost 100 lbs., largely because he quit drinking.

Sanz has appeared in 105 films or shows according to his IMDb page.

If it is true that the woman was seeking $7.5 million prior to filing a lawsuit that was sure to generate publicity, unless there is solid evidence that the Sanz 2019 confessional texts are counterfeit, it seems unlikely that a settlement short of 7 figures will occur

We may never know.

While it is not clear what assets Sanz, who was born in Chile and became a US citizen in 2018, has and can pay in the event he loses or settles the lawsuit, it is clear that NBC has deep pockets. It is not atypical for a large company to settle lawsuits and negotiate nondisclosure of terms.

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Frank Parlato

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  • I am going to be 100% honest. This story makes me hot. I’m sorry. I just find Horatio super hot. Anyone else???? I did not get any action as a teen because I was fat :'( I lost weight later and am now OK. but as a teen, I did not get action so I kinda envied these girls. But maybe I was fortunate to not experience it. Maybe I was saved from trauma. I hope this woman finds her way. She sounds like she is smart with computers. Keep going. Don’t give up!

  • He is guilty of being older and trying it on … and being wealthy and well-known enough that his reputation can be damaged if he doesn’t pay up. Items 1,2,3,5,6,7 are ludicrous. Items 21 & 25 are, at best, weird. Creepy and unsavory behaviour, but nothing illegal. She was 16, a minor. Where were her parents, letting her run around in those circles without supervision? If she wins a 7-fig settlement (based on info in this piece), it’s a travesty and extortion, and puts women’s causes back a few decades.

    • I also questioned where were her parents??? I did not think this guy did anything wrong.

      But this story did make me hot.

      Does anyone else think Horatio is handsome?

  • If he is guilty, then he should have his day in court. By why wait 19 years? I suspect the answer is monetary: i.e., he has money now.

    • Anonymous-

      The law changed in New York State.
      Look it up!

      Civil Suits no longer have a statute of limits!

      The woman in question probably didn’t understand the law change until recently!

      Is it about money? Of course!

      Was she a victim yes!

      That’s why he apologized to her!

      He probably would have settled the case, but she wants more money than the case is worth for him to settle…..

      • Just to clarify…Civil claims in NYS still have statutes-of-limitation. What actually happened is that the NYS legislature created a 1-year “window” during which otherwise stale claims for various sex-related torts could be filed (That “window” was subsequently extended to 2-years). But after the “window” closes, it will be back to business as usual.

          • You didn’t offer an opinion. You just asked me for mine.

            Your non-opinion was 0% right — and your decision to ask me was 100% right.

            So, yeah, I guess you were, in fact, 1/2 right…as long as we use fuzzy new math to do the calculations.

          • K.R. Claviger-

            RE: My Quasi/Pseudo Opinion:

            I’m so sorry……

            …Alonzo is having an insidious affect on me, much like the Scott Johnson Effect.

            Thanks for enlightening me!

            ****
            I bet you don’t know the difference between effect and affect. 😉

          • Even better, I know the difference between/among the following: carat, caret, carrot and karat.

        • Claviger-

          Bob Dylan to/too?!?!?

          You’re a Joan Osborne folk-music-hippie fan…..
          You must be heartbroken!

          #MeToo #BabyClavger #KrCries #boohooClav #BadDayClav #Haha

          ***
          Seriously thanks for the link.
          I like folk. The Lumineers put on a hell of a concert.
          I saw them at Harbor Side Pavilion in Boston, now known as Leader Bank Pavilion.

          Awesome place to see a concert! If you ever get the chance, you should see a show there.

          • I’ve learned not to be shocked by just about anything. All sorts of people do all sorts of things — and some of them, both the people and the things, are not very nice.

            I’ve seen several concerts at the Harborside Pavillon. Had a condo in one of the Towers back in the day.

  • To show how far society has changed in sixty years, Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show comes out of Studio 6B in Rockefeller Center.

    Around 1960 the same studio was used for Jack Paar’s Tonight Show.

    One night Paar told a joke using the British euphemism for toilet — the WC or Water Closet.

    The NBC censor cut the joke out.
    In a fit of pique, Paar walked off the show for a month.
    Now we have a Tonight Show hosted by Fallon, a man who arguably groomed a teenage girl for sex.
    How will NBC react?

    Paar was often unpredictable and emotional. The most notorious example of this kind of on-screen behavior was demonstrated on the February 10, 1960, show when one of his jokes was cut from a broadcast by studio censors. The joke in question involved a woman writing to a vacation resort and inquiring about the availability of a “W.C.” The woman used that term to mean “water closet” (i.e., bathroom), but the gentleman who received the letter misunderstood “W.C.” to mean “wayside chapel” (i.e., church). The full text of the joke is as follows:

    An English lady is visiting Switzerland. She asks about the location of the “W.C.” The Swiss, thinking
    she is referring to the “Wayside Chapel”, leaves her a note that said (in part) “the W.C. is situated nine miles from the room that you will occupy… It is capable of holding about 229 people and it is only open on Sunday and Thursday… It may interest you to know that my daughter was married in the W.C. and it was there that she met her husband… I shall be delighted to reserve the best seat for you, if you wish, where you will be seen by everyone.”

    NBC censors replaced that section of the show with news coverage and failed to inform Paar of their decision. On February 11, 1960, Jack Paar quit the show. As he left his desk in the middle of the program, he said:

    I am leaving The Tonight Show. There must be a better way of making a living than this. There’s a way of entertaining people without being constantly involved in some form of controversy which is on me all the time. It’s rough on my wife and child, and I don’t need it. I like the National Broadcasting Company, they’ve been swell to me. And I’ve been pretty wonderful to them. I took over a show with 60 stations. There is now 158. This show is sold out. It’s the highest, I think, money producer for this network. And I believe I was let down by this network at a time when I could have used their help. You have been peachy to me always.[11]
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonight_Starring_Jack_Paar

  • NBC had an employee whose main job was to pay off women who were allegedly drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.

    Former NBC Employee Claims He Paid Off Women For Bill Cosby
    https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/former-nbc-employee-claims-he-paid-off-women-for-bill-cosby

    The crap has also hit the fan for Jimmy Fallon.

    https://www.insider.com/snl-horatio-sanz-accused-grooming-sexually-assaulting-underage-fan-lawsuit-2021-8

    The comedian Horatio Sanz has been accused of grooming and sexually assaulting an underage fan while he was cast member on “Saturday Night Live” in the early 2000s, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in New York.

    The lawsuit, obtained by Variety, detailed the accusations of an anonymous woman from Pennsylvania, referred to as Jane Doe, who said she first met Sanz in 2000 after posting on “SNL” fan sites.

    Jane Doe said Sanz proceeded to groom her during multiple visits to the “SNL” studio and afterparties, and through communications on AOL Instant Messenger.

    According to the lawsuit, the abuse culminated in Sanz digitally penetrating her against her will at two “SNL” parties in May 2002, when she was 17.

    Sanz did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

    But he has denied the accusations in a statement released through his attorney, Andrew Brettler. He told TMZ that the woman’s claims were “categorically false” and “ludicrous.”

    “Before filing this lawsuit anonymously, she demanded $7.5 million in exchange for her silence. We, of course, refused and will vigorously contest these totally meritless claims.”

    The suit also named NBCUniversal and SNL Studios as defendants in the lawsuit. NBCUniversal did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.

    Here’s a summary of the claims in the lawsuit:

    Jane Doe started posting on “SNL” fan sites in 1999, when she was 14.

    In January 2000, Sanz and fellow “SNL” cast member Jimmy Fallon emailed Jane Doe, then 15, from an NBC email account.

    Jane Doe met with Sanz in person after an airing of SNL in October 2000, during which he was “flirtatious and physically affectionate.”

    On May 12, 2001, Jane Doe, then 16, attended her first “SNL” afterparty, where Sanz drank with her even though he “should have been aware she was underage,” the lawsuit said.

    At another “SNL” party the following week, Sanz had Jane Doe sit on his lap, and later “leered at her” as they watched the sunrise from the roof, according to the lawsuit.

    The two started talking over AOL Instant Messenger on August 23, 2001. According to the lawsuit, Sanz steered these conversations to sex, encouraged her to take “revealing” photos of herself, and then called her “slutty.”

    The lawsuit also included multiple incidents where Fallon witnessed Jane Doe drinking underage, including one “SNL” party where she told Fallon she was in high school and the two discussed her upcoming SAT exam. Insider contacted Fallon for comment, via NBCUniversal, but did not immediately receive a response.

    At two “SNL” parties on May 11-12, 2002, the lawsuit said Sanz kissed 17-year-old Jane Doe, groped her breasts, groped her buttocks, and digitally penetrated her genitals forcibly and without her consent.

    For the remainder of high school, Jane Doe became “depressed” and “ashamed” and “regularly self-medicated with dissociative drugs,” per the lawsuit. Sanz continued to IM Jane Doe in college, and became “increasingly emotionally abusive and controlling,” the lawsuit said.

    Jane Doe was hospitalized in 2005 “as a direct and proximate result of the ongoing intense shame and damage” of Sanz’s “sexual conduct.”

    In 2019, Jane Doe ran into Sanz in New York, where he “admitted to engaging in frequent ‘cybersex’ with her and further admitted and bragged” that he “masturbated during their conversations when she was underage,” the lawsuit said.

    In text messages in November 2019, Sanz said he was “very sorry” for manipulating her, and said: “If you want to metoo me you have every right,” per the lawsuit.

  • theDOSsierproject

    Public Statement After Recent Sentencings
    Aug 14
    The Dossier Project was formed when a group of women came together to honor the truth of their experience in DOS, and address the lies and mischaracterizations about DOS in the media. Since the story broke in October 2017, the narrative has morphed from salacious exaggeration to complete and utter fiction. The effects have been devastating; not just for us, but for those who have suffered at the hands of a corrupt justice system and prosecutors who care more about winning than truth and justice. Keith Raniere was sentenced to 120 years. Allison Mack was sentenced to three years. And Lauren Salzman received no prison time. How are these discrepancies possible given the seriousness of the charges? To those of us who were there when DOS existed, who witnessed what actually happened, the answer is clear: the entire case and the whole media sensation is a sham.

    The government and media claim things about DOS that make a mockery of women’s empowerment and gender equality. They assert that women are not the decision makers in their own lives and should not be held responsible for their own choices. The freedom to make lifestyle choices, whether unconventional, radical, or otherwise, is one of the foundational tenets of living in a free society. Yet, our experience tells a very different story. For those of us who engaged in proffer sessions with the government, the prosecutors made it clear there would be severe consequences for not conforming to their narrative, which made DOS out to be abusive and criminal. Some of our friends complied to avoid prosecution, or to end the persistent harassment by the media. You might say they are victims, but not of NXIVM or DOS. They are victims of a culture that punishes anything outside the norm, threatens those who don’t conform, and ultimately rewards victimhood above personal responsibility. Despite facing threats on multiple fronts, we will not be silenced or bullied into adopting a fantasy that promotes the infantilization of women and destroys the principle of due process.

    We are consistently attacked for our views and told by onlookers what our experience was and how we should feel about it. However, we firmly believe that, even if we were to find out we’re wrong about the fundamental nature of DOS or Keith Raniere’s intentions, there is no need and no place for hate when it comes to seeking truth, pursuing justice, and living in a civilized society. Over the course of nearly two decades, there were over 17,000 people who participated in the NXIVM community and who were positive about their experience. Many of these people have been terrorized by the government, the media, and opportunists looking for attention and financial gains. The public has largely celebrated and glorified this witch hunt. We believe it is wrong to treat any member of society with such prejudice and condemnation, no matter the accusation or association.

    We encourage everyone to investigate the truth and entertain the reality that the government and media may not be motivated by honor, but instead by politics and profit. Agree or disagree with our choices, but stand with us for truth and justice. Our shared future and individual liberty depends on it.

    https://www.thedossierproject.com/articles/dossier-public-statement-after-recent-sentencings

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” Parlato was also credited in the Starz docuseries "Seduced" for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Additionally, Parlato’s coverage of the group OneTaste, starting in 2018, helped spark an FBI investigation, which led to indictments of two of its leaders in 2023.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premiered on May 22, 2022. Most recently, he consulted and appeared on Tubi's "Branded and Brainwashed: Inside NXIVM," which aired January, 2023.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankparlato@gmail.com

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